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Paragraph 3.3. Believing and knowing. Stories in Greek. Everybody that wasn’t Greek was a barbarian . They were no good. There were many separate city-states but they still saw themselves as 1 people. They had the same language and script. Stories . They had many important stories:
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Paragraph 3.3 Believing and knowing
Stories in Greek • Everybody that wasn’t Greek was a barbarian. • They were no good. • There were many separate city-states but they still saw themselves as 1 people. • They had the same language and script.
Stories • They had many important stories: • Myths: about gods. • Sagas: about heroes. • Legends: about miracles. • These are part of their civilisation.
Iliad and the Odyssey • 8th century BC, Poet Homer ( Homerus) wrote 2 stories about heroes: • Iliad: how Odysseus wins the war against Troy. • Odyssey: about how Odysseus comes home after that war. • They are both very long poems, that tell a story, called an epic.
Olympic gods • All Greeks worshipped the same gods. • It was 1 big family, that lived on Mount Olympus: • Supreme god: Zeus, ruled heaven and earth. • He had 2 brothers: • Poseidon, god of seas • Hades: ruler or the underworld.
Zeus had children with his wife Hera, but also with goddesses and mortal woman ( humans): • Apollo: god of music and knowledge • Athena: goddess of war and wisdom • Aphrodite: goddess of love • Dionysus: god of wine.
The stories about gods could explain things in nature that the Greeks couldn’t understand. • The gods provided prosperity, like good harvests, but also misfortune, like illnesses or losing a battle.
Oracle of Delphi • To honour the gods, the Greeks would built temples. • When the Greeks needed advice, they could visit an oracle. • The oracle of Delphi is the most famous one. • Apollo would answer your questions. • He spoke through a priestess. • She would be in a trance, and spoke weird sentences.
Priests would translate the sentences into an answer to the people. • Answers could be misleading: • King Croesus asked the oracle if he should attack the Persians. • The answer was; “a great empire shall fall”. • Well, the oracle was right, it was his own empire, because he lost!
Lover of wisdom • 6th century BC, people started to question the stories about the gods. • They wanted to use their intelligence to understand things. • They used research and logical thinking. • We call these men, philosophers, which means “lovers of wisdom”. • It was a general term for all sciences.
Researchers • If you were sick in Greece, you would make an offering for Asclepius, god of healing. • He looked like a man with a staff, entwined by a serpent. (= snake) the staff was called; the rod of Asclepius. • This is still used by doctors.
The doctor Hippocrates didn’t believe in gods. • He wanted to examine the patient and find a biological cause for an illness. • He made rules for doctors. • Doctors still take the “Hippocratic oath”. • They would promise to respect life and do their best.
Another researcher was Herodotus. • He had a good look at history. • 2 others: Pythagoras and Archimedes thought about maths and science. • Aristarchus thought about how the sun would be set ( stationary) and that the earth revolved around it.
Thinkers • Plato thought about the best way to get to true knowledge: • Think hard or observation? • Looking at things is not enough, because it can change. Thinking is more important. • Aristotle actually said that observation is more important.
